SPEAKING TRUTH FOR PEACE

"Archbishop Desmond Tutu's call for a cultural boycott of Israel is a peaceful way to focus world attention on the plight of the people of Palestine. His stand is characteristic of a life-long activist's quest for peace and justice in the world. Yet, for his stand he has now been labelled an anti-Semitic and there have been calls for him to resign his position as Patron of the two South African Holocaust Centres.

"Archbishop Tutu has an understanding for the anxieties of his detractors. But his conviction remains firm and so is the strength of his support for the South African Holocaust Centres as Patron.

"He has received support from many members of the Jewish faith who have signed petitions, written letters and issued statements of support.

"For the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, charged with preserving, fostering and propagating the Archbishop's legacy of peace - and for society in general - there are important lessons to be drawn from the public exchanges between supporters and detractors of the present state of Israel that have been detailed in news coverage and commentary since the Archbishop's call to the Cape Town Opera Company last October to reconsider their tour of Israel.

"Among these lessons is that advocating non-violent change and speaking truth to power have been since the 1980s the essence of the Archbishop's approach to making peace, no matter the approach of his detractors. Today, they continue to be.

"Also is the truism that societies are complex. There never is just one school of thought: not in Darfur, not in Burma, not among Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews... There are many members of the Jewish faith, all over the world, who find some of the activities of the State of Israel in regards to the Palestine as worthy of moral outrage as Archbishop Tutu finds them.

"The Desmond Tutu Peace Centre applauds Chief Rabbi Goldstein's call for a dialogue on these issues, and joins the Cape Town Holocaust Centre in seeking solutions that enhance and deepen understanding.

"As US President Barack Obama said in response to a recent shooting in Tucson, Arizona: "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."

Statement issued by Oryx Multimedia on behalf of Adv Dumisa Buhle Ntsebeza SC, Chairman of the Desmond Tutu Peace Trust, January 18 2011

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